Sweet N’ Juicy don’t waste a moment to lift up your spirits and simply elevate the overall mood on “Your Mom’s Gonna Love Us”. The delightfully spirited Oregon based outfit clearly have a penchant for live that you can hear in the recordings, a kind of effervescent and almost improvised fun-loving nature that comes out in the vocal harmonies and the way each instrument is even played. On “The Way You Love Me”, they start without warning, instantly delivering this ever so delightful mixture of funk, pop, and rock that’s anchored together by an endearing soulfulness that’s distinctively modern but still finds its heart in the roots of the genre. As far as opening tracks go, you couldn’t ask for a more fun way to kickstart the record.
“Exception” takes the record down a more country inspired route. With a more ballad structured arrangement, a crisper and slightly more deeper performance brings the tempo down a slight bit down from the scintillating highs of its opener. That’s not to say for a moment that it’s morose or melancholic, merely that it seeks to showcase a different side. The chorus on this track is simply delightful to sink yourself in. I find some of my favourite tracks towards the latter half of the record. The tongue in cheek party sleek record that is “Cigarettes and Jesus” is an ever so slick and fun piece that showcases just how performance oriented “Sweet N’ Juicy” really are. The entire record feels like a live performance in so many ways, you can almost feel that the group are performing in a bar that you find yourself drinking in. They have a magnetic energy to themselves, a way that they’re able to reel you into their fun, a happy-go-lucky energy and devil-may-care attitude that’s impossible to find yourself ignoring.
Who said soul music was dead in the slightest? “Your Mom’s Gonna Love Us” is one of the most fun and entertaining records I’ve come across so far. Definitely give this delightful bunch a listen and then some.